SB Nation - Daric Barton

Billy Beane Exclusive Athletics Nation Interview: Season End 2009 Part I

Tyler Bleszinski — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:00:46 -0000

The A's did make some strides forward in 2009 despite finishing with nearly an identical record the past three seasons. They have a good core of young players who appear primed to only get better, and despite the last week of stumbling baseball, the team was one of baseball's surprises in the second half.

With Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Brett Wallace, Daric Barton, Rajai Davis and the rest of the team coming back with more experience, 2010 is looking up for us green and gold faithful. Billy Beane is exceptionally busy wrapping up the season and already starting to look ahead, so I appreciate him taking the time out to chat with me this past week. This is the first part of the interview. I will be running the second part first thing Tuesday morning. Enjoy.

Blez: When I talked to you in spring training it looked like you felt like this team could've gone either way. You were hesitant to say it was going to excel. You didn't seem to know what you were going to have.

Billy Beane: If you point to something right away, we had so many young and unproven starting pitchers in the rotation. You just didn't really know how they were going to react and it's hard to predict where you're going to go if you don't know where your pitching is. I think when we spoke it was right around the time when we were just becoming aware of some of the injury possibilities that ended up happening. The two most obvious were Duchscherer and Joey Devine. When you have so many rookie pitchers getting their first taste of the major leagues, it's very difficult to predict where you're going to go.

Blez: What would your assessment on 2009 be then? We're closing in on the final week of the season here.

Beane: It almost feels like two different seasons. I'm very pleased with the second half. I think we've played pretty well and we've surprised some people because we've played so well in particular after some of the bigger name players weren't here anymore. In particular the Holliday trade, and we've made other changes. But I think the most encouraging thing has been the way we've performed in the second half as well as the development of some of these players who I think are going to be here for a long time, which was first and foremost our goal this year. It's been the last couple of years that we've been trying to build that foundation of young talent that people can look forward to seeing for the next few years and creating a winning core for the foreseeable future. For the first time you really started to see that. You can look at some of the young players like Andrew Bailey who made the All Star team as a closer. Certainly Brett Anderson's performance and Trevor Cahill's improvement. Gio (Gonzalez) has made progress this year. Raj Davis, on the offensive side, has come on and shown himself to be a really good major league centerfielder. Ryan Sweeney as well as Kurt Suzuki's continued development and I know I'm going to leave people out. Cliff Pennington has performed very well in the second half. I think if you look around the diamond you'll see that these guys are going to be here for a while and they've proven over the second half that they can perform at the major league level. And as we continue to add guys from our minor league system, guys who are highly thought of, you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Blez: You mentioned people being surprised that the team picked up and became a better team when you ultimately traded away or got rid of some of the "name" guys like Holliday, Giambi and Cabrera. Some of those guys we all expected more from at the beginning of the year. Is there a point where you might've said, "Maybe instead of bringing in some of those guys, maybe I should've just started with the youth at the beginning of the year and perhaps they would've matured and gotten to that point?"

Beane: That's a good question. Personally I always like the idea of if you're trying to rebuild to just got full bore and do it. But there's also a balance as well. In fairness you have to understand a guy like Cliff Pennington probably benefitted from going back and starting the year in Triple-A. What we've seen this year even relative to last year is that he was much more ready to come up this year and contribute than last year. I don't think you could say that that would've been the case in April. But it's a fair question and certainly one that you think about. I do think there is something to be said about having some of those older guys in here so as not to put the pressure on those younger guys to perform. When we made some of these trades to make the commitment to the younger guys it was a different point in the season and I think it allowed them to relax and realize they were going to be able to play every day. They would realize they could make a mistake and still be in there. I'm not sure that that would've been the case had you started that way from the outset. You might've had a different mindset from the younger players. Keep in mind that some of the holdover guys are young too. Those players are different ones than they were in April. Even though we see Kurt Suzuki as the established guy, he's a guy that continues to improve as is Ryan Sweeney. I think having some of those veteran guys gave them the opportunity to continue some of that development. When the baton was handed off to them, they were more prepared then they were in April.

Blez: You were talking about some of those veteran guys you traded away. And obviously it hurt the team quite a bit that Matt Holliday didn't come close to his career numbers with the A's. There was speculation on AN, everything from he knew he was a short timer here in Oakland so he didn't care, to league adjustment, to the adjustment to not being at Coors Field. Why do you think he didn't come close to what he's doing now in St. Louis?

Beane: The first thing I can put to rest is that he didn't care because that was absolutely not the case. Matt was an absolute professional here. If anything he was probably guilty of putting too much pressure on himself than people know publicly. Matt had impeccable work habits and was a pro. There was probably a bit of an adjustment period. But keep in mind even right before he went to St. Louis, he was really starting to get going here.

Blez: His numbers definitely were going up before he was dealt.

Beane: Yeah you could see he was starting to feel more like himself and get it going. The fact that he took off when he went there was not a surprise. Certainly the lineup to hit in around Pujols, I think it became a perfect environment for him. I think had Matt stayed here he would've returned to his career numbers and I think he was headed that way before he left. I can tell you this. He was an absolute professional when he was here and any assertion that he didn't care is not true.

Blez: How do you find enough at bats for someone like Landon Powell who seems like he should get more regular playing time? Do you go into the offseason thinking about how you get more time for him despite the fact that Kurt Suzuki is a fantastic catcher, does a great job with the pitchers and is great offensively? Do you start to look at DH or a different position?

Beane: There's been times where Bob (Geren) has tried to do that. Early in the year he played a few games at first base and it's not something everyone can do immediately on an everyday basis. The other thing too is there were times that Landon was slowed down because he had nagging hamstring issues at different points during the season. Even though there are times when Bob wanted to get his bat in the lineup, Landon's body wouldn't allow him to. One of the things we're going to focus on with Landon is making sure he's as physically prepared as possibly to handle even more than he has. But we see it as a good problem to have. To be able to put in a catcher behind Kurt who has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark but is also a good defensive catcher is a great luxury to have. But the fact is, and you alluded to this, Kurt Suzuki is one of the top catchers in the game. Not only that but he's very much become a leader on the team so he's going to get the bulk of time, yet we are aware of the amount of production Landon has given us in his brief amount of time. I think the goal is ultimately to get him more at bats, but for the time being, Kurt is going to get the bulk of them. Part of Landon's responsibility is to make sure he can handle more playing time than he has because that hasn't always been the case this year.

Blez: When someone like Rajai Davis has what looks like a "career year," how do you assess whether a reasonable projection for next year is more like what he's doing, or more like what he's done before? How does the team go about trying to figure this out?

Beane: In some sense you have to take it at face value. He was with Pittsburgh and then San Francisco and now us. He's never really been given a full blown opportunity to prove himself as an everyday player and now that he is putting up the numbers he is, the first question is, can he keep this up? But if you go back and look at what Raj did in the minor leagues, he was a good minor league hitter so it shouldn't come as a total shock. You're not talking about a guy who was a .220 hitter in the minor leagues. He was a good player when he played. Right now we just see it as a guy who has hit well in the minors who has finally been given the opportunity and is carrying it forward. We're going to enjoy it and go with it and try not to overthink. Anyone who has seen Raj with us over the last year and three quarters, when he's played, he's played well. He's one of the unique major league players who continues to just get better. We're going to take it at face value and he's done enough to show that he's a good enough player to play every day at center field. He's such a weapon on the base paths and he gives you such a unique dynamic. If you look at the stolen bases he's had without even having a full season, it isn't out of the question that next year you could see stealing 65-70 bases.

Blez: You reference stolen bases and obviously it's something that has changed quite a bit about the A's. I think you're in the top three in stolen bases and Raj is one of the league leaders in that number and he really makes the overall team number larger. Did you make a decision to be more aggressive on the base paths because of the lack of power? Did you think, we've got to get some offense some way?

Beane: I really think it's Bob (Geren) trying to take the personnel he has and trying to do the best he can with it. He's playing to the strengths. We don't have a lot of power and it's certainly something in order to be a more complete offensive team it's something we need to get. In a perfect world you have both guys who can steal bases and guys who can hit it out of the ballpark. As much as anything, it's Bob really trying to take advantage of what he has. Early in the year we were having trouble scoring runs and he wanted to create a mindset of being aggressive and when you have a guy like Raj doing it the way he's doing it, it has a tendency of rubbing off on everybody. There's a sense of confidence guys have when they get on the bases and they look to steal bases. They're looking for that steal sign. It also has a carryover effect with the rest of the base running. We've been by and large a very good baserunning team and it was just a matter of Bob looking at his personnel and he thought that this is what we're going to have to do to scrape some runs out. The second half we've actually swung the bats really well also and if you combine that with the aggressive baserunning, that's why you're seeing a lot higher run totals. The one thing it really has done is just given the guys a more aggressive mindset. They realize they're not going to win a whole lot of ballgames by getting into home run hitting contests. I give a lot of credit to Bob and his staff as they've really scratched and clawed their way through nine innings of these games.

Blez: Two questions. Do you believe in that the stolen bases must be a 75 percent success rate or higher or it's counterproductive and second of all, do you believe that someone like Rajai Davis actually puts additional pressure on the pitcher? The assumption is that the opposition pitcher somehow loses that concentration because they're so worried about the baserunner stealing.

Beane: There is no question that if a guy like Raj gets on base, everyone is aware that he is on base and there is going to be some adjustments to how quickly the pitcher might deliver the pitch and the catcher might call for a different pitch than he otherwise would. So the game calling might change as well. I'm sure you could quantify it. I'm not aware of exactly how to, but you can certainly tell from a game situation how teams react differently if you're willing to steal a base so I do think it does have an impact. The Angels have certainly done that for years and I think it's had an impact on how teams play them. It creates a tense situation for not just pitchers and catchers but defenders because they have to come up with a perfect play. As far as the rate, there is certainly a point where if you're constantly running and constantly getting thrown out it's definitely having an adverse impact and the demarcation line certainly seems to be around that 70 percent area. You also have to keep in mind that it doesn't take into account some of the things teams are doing to adjust to a team that runs a lot.

Blez: Do you think that the stolen base has become a bit of an unvalued commodity in baseball considering how few there are now, especially in the American League, compared to years past?

Beane: What I think I've noticed more than anything is that a lot of the teams that are running have sophisticated coaching staffs and sophisticated ways to apply the running game, and I might not be accurate and this is just my impression, but those teams seem to be successful more often. The percentage at which they are stealing bases just seems to be higher.

Blez: The Rays are a good example from last year.

Beane: The Red Sox, who historically haven't been a running team the last few years, specifically with (Jacoby) Ellsbury at the top of their lineup. Yet they also seem to steal at a very high rate too. I think everyone is just trying to take advantage by making a percentage play as well. That's why the success rate seems higher. It just seems very much a part of the strategy as opposed to just indiscriminate running for the sake of doing it.

Blez: We talked about Raj and his career year. This is similar to that. Does Daric Barton seem like he's finally arrived or do you need to see more than a month of red-hot hitting, especially given that he's done that before?

Beane: I knew I'd forget somebody earlier and Daric has, certainly this last month, been swinging the bat the way we knew he could and very similarly to the first month he came to the big leagues a couple of years ago. One thing to keep in mind with Daric is that he's still extremely young. He came up at an age when many kids are still in college. He needs to be given the benefit of time and we need to do that. Through no fault of his own, he's had a few nicks here and there that have kind of interrupted his development. The biggest thing is this guy has been a very, very good minor league hitter and at times has shown that he can be a very good major league hitter. With young players, you just can't expect they're always going to be Andrew Bailey where they step on a mound and they never look back. Daric's development path is not unlike a lot of successful major leaguers where he shows you something and maybe he goes through some difficult times. That just means we have to be patient and hope that the guy that you saw in the minor leagues ultimately becomes that guy at the major leagues. This last month Daric has made some huge strides and we're not just excited about next year, but the next five or six years. The other thing you can't forget about Daric is how good a defender he has become. This is a converted catcher in the minor leagues. He's become a very good defensive first baseman, not just with the glove, but when needed, he throws very well from that position too. We're excited and it's great to see. We've always had high hopes for Daric particularly after that first month at the big leagues. He's one of the reasons we've played so well.

Blez: Staying with the first baseman theme, you have Barton, Doolittle and Carter as potential first basemen, but Doolittle and Carter also have some OF experience. What does the first base depth chart look like right now, and which of the players might be more likely to end up elsewhere on the field?

Beane: It's a question we may face and face very soon. We played Chris Carter a little in the outfield in Double-A. He's a good athlete. In a perfect world, all those guys become very good major league hitters and you have to find a spot for them. It potentially is something we're going to face. We're going to have to make a decision and it will be made on production first and foremost. Secondly, as you mentioned, it might be based on somebody's ability to play another position. In Chris' case we started to play him some in the outfield and I've even talked to his agent as he's going to play winter ball in Mexico and we've talked about getting him out there as much as possible because we think he's a good enough athlete to do it. We were doing the same with Doolittle in Triple A this year before he had the knee issue. It is definitely something as we go into the offseason and spring training we're going to have to prepare for.

Blez: Would the power potential for the position have a big deciding difference in who you play at first base? It's obviously still a concern with Daric because he hasn't put up much in terms of power numbers, but Carter has and Doolittle has some pop as well. Or do you maybe weigh the defense first?

Beane: Being a regular major league baseball player, the player brings a lot of elements: it's his baserunning, it's his fielding, it's his power, it's his ability to hit for average and it's when you add those things together usually one player is going to be better than the other even if he's deficient in one area because he may do one thing very well. It's not something we have to answer yet and it's definitely getting closer. We think all these guys are major league players, it's just about finding a spot for them.

Blez: What will most determine the timeline for when Chris Carter is called up to Oakland? Could he win a job out of spring training if he looks ready?

Beane: It's probably a little early to answer that. The only thing I'll say is that we wanted to give Chris some time at Triple-A and give him some confidence going into next year thinking he's seen the highest level of the minors and he could perform there. I think he did a great job in the few weeks he was there. It's just too early to answer that. I don't like creating definites at this point when you don't need to. A player usually decides when he's ready for the major leagues by performing at the highest level and at that point there's nowhere for him to go but up. Some of these guys are getting close to that.

Blez: Based on what you have seen so far, what's the current thinking on Brett Wallace's chances of being a major league every day third baseman?

Beane: We're going to leave Brett over there. He's played one full season, a total of a season and a half of professional baseball as he's moved very, very quickly because of his bat. We're going to give him the benefit of some time over there defensively and particularly given the long-term need we're going to have at that position, it would behoove us to give him every opportunity to give him the development time defensively to see if he can play the position because it would definitely be a great fit if he can play third base in the big leagues based on the personnel we have here and have coming up. It would be absolutely perfect. Especially given that Chavy (Eric Chavez) is coming into the last year of his contract, the chance that Brett with some further refining would be a very nice fit for us there long term. I guess the question is, is it still a work in progress? And we're going to give him every opportunity to prove he can play that position.

Blez: What do you do about third base, at least short term? I'm not even sure where Eric Chavez stands at this point or if he's a part of the conversation. I've read reports that he could do permanent damage to himself if he plays again. Where does Eric stand right now?

Beane: From a rehab standpoint, he's doing very well. The good thing about him having surgery when he did is that when we get into the offseason, he should have as normal an offseason as any other player. He should be able to start resuming normal baseball activities when everyone else starts. The time that he's had has been good. I think we have to be realistic including Eric because he's faced a number of surgeries and he's been more disappointed than anyone that he hasn't been able to come back completely. We have to be realistic on him coming back and have some short-term preparation as it applies to that position going into next year. I also think that Eric, given his talent level, deserves the respect and the opportunity to get healthy and given the opportunity to get back to doing what he does best. In short, we're going to try to prepare for both sides of the equation.

Blez: Where does Travis Buck stand with the team now as he seems to be caught in an almost purgatory state now between Triple-A and being up with the team but not really seeing much regular playing time? Is it the type of thing where he needs to get in there for a while to get his confidence back as he's seemed to have hit well in Triple-A?

Beane: The one thing about major league baseball is that it's pretty Darwinian. If you hit, you're going to play. Raj is probably the best example of that. When Raj got a chance to play he hit. Since he's been playing, he's looked around saying I'm not going to let anyone else play because I know I have to perform here in order to keep myself in the lineup. Most recently, Ryan Sweeney has done the same thing. With all players, not just Travis, it's ultimately going to be based on performance. Travis has had a couple of years in a row, unfortunately, where he's had concussions that haven't enabled him to even play regularly at Triple A. He's missed some time there because of these injuries. We still think very highly of Travis for the same reasons that most people did when he first came up. We think he's got the talent to be a good major league player. At this point it's when he's given the chance he has to take advantage of it and ultimately hopefully avoiding some of those injuries he's had the last couple of years. But we still think very highly of him and one of the best things about Travis is that when he first came up one of the areas we wanted him to work on was his defense and that was addressed to him and he did. He's improved significantly in the outfield and it was an area of weakness when he first came up. Ultimately when he gets to this level it will be based on performance.

Coming tomorrow: Beane delves into the pitching, the status of the injured A's pitchers and how he sees 2010 shaping up.

Cahill, aided by double plays, earns win #10

Flashfire — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:57:53 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

It was a homer, really! They just don't call them that way once you get past Little League ball.

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It was one of those outings where you figure Trevor Cahill should have given up more than just one run, the sort where he's in trouble often and just waiting for that hit or two that leads to a big inning for the other side. The thing to remember is when you're a ground ball pitcher and someone's on base you're usually only one double play away from heading back to the dugout unscathed with the odds a little more in your favor than usual. Such was the case tonight and Daric Barton provided the offense early (with a little help from the Rangers "defense") before the A's opened it up big time in the 7th, winning 9-1.

In Cahill's 5 2/3 innings tonight (he was on a pitch count) he was able to get three of them. Two were of the conventional on-the-ground variety while one was a nice catch and throw from center by Rajai Davis. His first two innings were three up, three down affairs but he got the double plays in each of the middle innings. He was also pretty efficient in throwing 51 of his 79 pitches for strikes (65%) along with inducing 11 ground ball outs compared to 4 by air.

Once again he also avoided giving up the longball, though David Murphy came very close on a run-scoring double that hit the top of the jagged edge in right-center. There was some luck on his side tonight as most of the 6 hits and 2 walks he gave up came in four innings with just 1 strikeout overall but I see it as him making some of his own by keeping the ball down, pitching to his strengths.

Things got a little interesting in the bottom of the 1st when Adam Kennedy decided he was going to have a very short night as he argued a bad called strike three enough for Eric Cooper to give him the thumb. Of note was Bob Geren taking about half an hour to get out of the dugout but while Kennedy was right to be upset he didn't look like he'd be done with it until he got sent to the showers. Mission accomplished, but we were forced to endure eight innings of Bobby Crosby.

In the bottom of the 2nd Barton stepped to the plate with two away and Jack Cust on first after a walk. In one of those plays you really just have to see to believe, he hit a sinking liner to right that Nelson Cruz charged and dove for. Instead of letting it fall and keeping it to a two-out, two-on situation the ball got under his glove. Cust motored around to score as Barton reached third on a triple, but Ian Kinsler's relay throw got past Ivan Rodriguez to the backstop and Barton raced home as well, beating Brandon McCarthy's errant toss from near the on-deck circle. Out of all that, just one error was charged to Kinsler, which was about right.

Barton would come through again with two down in the 4th, singling to plate Ryan Sweeney. Cahill gave a run back in the 6th on the Murphy double before Marlon Byrd hit a fly ball to center. Davis made the catch and Murphy raced to third only to be tagged out by Bobby Crosby. Craig Breslow finished the inning and worked an uneventful 7th, then the A's really put it out of reach.

Leading off, Eric Patterson turned on a fastball away (yes, you read it right) for a double to right. Geren played it safe by having Crosby sacrifice Patterson to third but it quickly got out of hand for Willie Eyre. Davis singled, plating Patterson. Sweeney singled as Davis went to third. Kurt Suzuki and Cust both pulled doubles down the line, Suzuki's scoring two while Cust's brought Suzuki around. Mark Ellis singled in Cust and Eyre's night was done. Barton hit another ball solidly but this time it was a sharp liner right to Hank Blalock at first for an inning-ending double play.

The A's got one more in the 8th on a Davis strikeout, though he reached first on a wild pitch as Patterson trotted home after singling and advancing to third on a couple passed balls. Jerry Blevins and Brad Ziegler wrapped up the win that put Cahill into double figures days after Brett Anderson got there. After Kurt Suzuki dropped a foul pop by Kinsler, Ziegler's next and final pitch was a soft liner right back to him that led to an easy throw to Barton at first. Game over. A's win again, their eighth in the last nine. Yay!

Oh yeah. The Rajai Watch is now at .318 after a couple more hits. He did strike out three times.

A's One-Hit Rangers for Sweep; Continue to Star In Spoiler Role

baseballgirl — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:02:08 -0000

More photos » by Mike Fuentes - AP

I'm going to pitch like this in 2010!

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Coined "The Spoiler Express" by our announcers tonight, the Oakland A's continue to frustrate the Texas Rangers with dazzling starting pitching and late offensive explosions.

Tonight, it was Cahill's turn on the mound, working within the parameters of an 80 pitch limit. Last start, his 73 pitches translated to three innings, but tonight his 94 pitches took him through the seventh. I'm not sure that he was as good as his ridiculous numbers looked, but I certainly saw quite a few frustrated Texas hitters after their at-bats.

To put it mildly, Cahill's numbers were awesome. After giving up a leadoff single in the second inning, followed by a walk to the next batter, Cahill didn't allow another batter to reach until he issued a two-out walk in the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, the A's ran all over the bases, got timely hits, and scored four runs to complete the road trip at 6-2. Seriously, who is this team???

You know it might be one of the best games the A's have played all year when the only highlight the Texas feed could come up with for the whole game was of Daric Barton being tagged out as he over-slid second base in the seventh. It was a quick, neat, tidy win and it gave the A's the sweep over the Rangers. They now hold a 9-6 season series lead with four left to play next week. They also may be the true spoiler for the Rangers this season.

The A's got on the board early in this contest as Rajai Davis was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second. He would score on Hairston's 2-out ground rule double, giving the A's the 1-0 lead. They would add three more in the sixth on a Kennedy single, a Davis RBI double (he took third on the throw), a Sweeney sac fly, and a Powell homerun. We could have lived without that extra run; it cost Bailey his 25th save.

Cahill breezed through his seven innings of work, looking like the pitcher we know he can be. Wuertz pitched the eighth, and Bailey pitched a 1, 2, 3 non-save ninth, bringing his WHIP to .92 and his ERA to 1.98. C'mon ROY voters; what more do you want!? (Niemann got lit his last time out and Texas is fading fast.)

The A's are 7-3 in their last 10 games; their closer is as good as anyone in the game right now, and their #2 hitter is playing like an MVP. Since July 1st, Rajai Davis leads all outfielders (just ahead of Holliday) with a .357 average. He has 38 R, 37 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases in that time-frame.

The Rangers got booed off the field as the A's flew home, and probably rightly so. Their playoff hopes grow slimmer by the day. Meanwhile the A's, rebuilding for 2010, play the Indians tomorrow at 7:05. Let's keep winning; this is fun!

Close But No Cigar: A's Forget, At Crucial Times, To Swing, Catch

Nico — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:10:43 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Bob Geren asks how Jack Cust's bid for a second HR could be ruled foul when Geren just recently caught a fish "this big."

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Here are some truths about baseball, in order of appearance in the A's 5-3 loss that gave the Mariners a series sweep:

1. It is better to be a TTO hitter than it is to be a TTO pitcher. Jack Cust's HR, which put the A's on the board tonight, his near HR that curved 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th of an inch foul, and two strikeouts left him, when the dust cleared, as one of the bright spots amongst the A's batters.

But the combination of walks, strikeouts, and HRs really doesn't work well for a pitcher. Gio Gonzalez struck out 7 tonight, dazzling at times, but also walked 3 and served up a 1st inning HR to Jose Lopez -- following a walk to Jack Hannahan -- and wound up charged with 4 runs, throwing 107 pitches in 5 innings. Fewer less walks and HRs please, Gio, and not so many of them, kthxbye.

2. It's great to be able to outrun the baseball, but you also need to catch it. Rajai Davis dropped two fly balls tonight after running them down, one generously ruled a double, the second ruled an error. The error came with the A's trailing just 4-3 in the 7th, and was followed by a broken-bat single to LF by Mike Sweeney. Scott Hairston, whose defense continues to underwhelm me, made a looping and offline throw that was still going to get the runner -- except that Kurt Suzuki didn't catch this one either.

3. When the tying run is at 1st base, he gets home better when you swing at strikes. With two on and nobody out in the 9th, first Tommy Everidge watched three fastballs, each one more down the middle than the last, then Nomar was called out on strikes on yes, a borderline pitch, but c'mon guys. Seriously, stop making Ed Crosby look good because that's hard to do.

A few other observations...

* Where was Daric Barton? It's weird how the A's seem to platoon Barton, not starting him against LHPs, sometimes pinch-hitting for him against a LHP -- yet they don't do this with Everidge or Nomar against RHPs. Do the A's believe that right-handed hitters can hit RHP but left-handed hitters can't hit LHP? Barton probably should have hit for Everidge leading off the 7th, definitely should have pinch-hit for Everidge in the 9th, and arguably should have been the choice to hit for Pennington.

* This was the major league debut calling "balls and strikes" for Dan Bellino and I thought he did a great job. (Nomar probably disagrees.)

* Jeff Gray looked better than I've seen him at any time, throwing 95MPH with movement, locating his pitches, and fooling hitters when he pulled the string with his slider. I haven't been especially impressed with Gray previously, but tonight was impressive. He has passed Santiago Casilla on the depth chart (as has 1/2 of AN) and he's moving in the right direction. Keep an eye...

* I'll never root for the A's to lose, but given that they have here's tonight's "silver lining": The A's entered play in a flat-footed tie with Cleveland for overall record (which impacts draft position). Cleveland won tonight. Go Indians!

Reminder: If your schedule says that the A's don't play tomorrow, your schedule is lying to you. The A's and Angels play at 7:25pm, in the makeup game for the April 9th game that was canceled following the Nick Adenhart tragedy.

Could it be...? No, it can't be... OMG it really is! It's a Minor League Update!!!

grover — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:00:25 -0000

Hello again.

Work called me away for a while and it’s been tough getting back into the groove of things. For those who don’t know, I’m a wildland fire fighter and August got a little busy for those in my career field. So when I disappear again for a couple weeks just remember… I envy your access to in-door plumbing.

Anyways, I want to focus this week’s minor league update on the 40 man roster and the options that are going to have to be decided upon in the coming months. Why do this now instead of waiting until September 1st? The topic tickles my fancy, that’s why. As I seem to have (once again) misplaced my Cap o’ Omnipotence I’m forced to resort to basic logic and common sense reckoning to try and deduce the future roster.

That’s right… none of what I’m about to tell you is guaranteed!

The way I see it, there are 28-29 spots on the future 40 man roster all but guaranteed. On the pitching side, Brett Anderson, Andrew Bailey, Jerry Blevins, Dallas Braden, Craig Breslow, Trevor Cahill, Joey Devine, Gio Gonzalez, Jeff Gray, Jay Marshall, Vin Mazzaro, Clayton Mortensen, Josh Outman, Henry Rodriguez, Michael Wuertz and Brad Ziegler all seem certain to have jobs in the Oakland organization next year. That’s 16 pitchers of varying combinations of success/cheapness/options that aren’t going to be released just to make room on the roster. (There’s a pretty good chance that Outman will open next season on the 60-day DL, opening up an additional spot on the 40 man.) Santiago Casilla and Edgar Gonzalez are both arbitration eligible next season but neither pitched so well that the A’s are going to be eager to give them big pay raises, which could mean either or both players could end up as trade fodder or possibly even released. Dana Eveland is still on the 40 man roster as well, but his poor performance led to a demotion that will keep him from seeing any arby money next season. Unfortunately, Mr. Eveland’s suckitude forced the A’s to use his last option this season; meaning he can’t be stashed on Sacramento’s roster next season without first passing through waivers. Chances are Eveland isn’t going to be one of the 5 best SP candidates for the A’s come Opening Day 2010 and as a lefty with a pulse he’d probably get snapped up by some other team desperate for pitching. Therefore, I think this is good-bye to Mr. Eveland.

As it just so happens, it looks as if the A’s are going to need maybe 3 openings on the 40 man roster just to protect some arms that should attract a lot of interest in the Rule 5 draft. Pedro Figueroa hasn’t advanced past High-A ball but he’s a lefty with a low-90’s fastball. Brad Kilby is another lefty who’s put up back-to-back quality campaigns in Sacramento’s bullpen. Fautino De Los Santos is still trying to bounce back from 2008 TJ surgery but he wouldn’t last long if the A’s made him available for the Rule 5 draft. Jason Ray is in the same boat but I don’t think there’s much risk of someone grabbing him and keeping him on a 25 man roster all season.

There’s also a chance the A’s might be interested in bringing back Brett Tomko or Justin Duchscherer next season. Dan Giese should be fully recovered in time for next season; maybe the A’s are still interested in him as a swing man type. Plus, guys like Sam Demel and James Simmons could be knocking on the door next season and they’d need a spot on the 40 man to do so. Like I said, I could see 3-4 spots going to the guys I just listed and we haven’t even looked outside the organization to find help.

The hitting side of things is even more in flux.

Kurt Suzuki, Landon Powell, Eric Chavez (who?) Mark Ellis, Daric Barton, Travis Buck, Aaron Cunningham, Rajai Davis, Scott Hairston, Ryan Sweeney, Jack Cust, Tommy Everidge, Cliff Pennington and Gregorio Petit have spots on the 40 man roster. (Although I’m not sure if Petit has another minor league option available to him in 2010… if someone has a conclusive answer I’d appreciate hearing it.) C Anthony Recker is the most prominent bat in the A’s system that would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and I’m not sure if the A’s would consider his departure to be a great loss. So any Recker fans out there can protect him on their 40 man lists, but I’m thinking the A’s leave him off the protected roster. Chris Denorfia and Eric Patterson are both out of options, so if they aren’t in Oakland come Opening Day there’s a good chance they’ll be playing for another organization in 2010. I can maybe see Patterson as a back-up at 2B and in the outfield but I’ve got to squint and angle my head to one side to see it. I think it’s more likely that the A’s will try to bring back Adam Kennedy to serve as a deluxe back-up option/veteran mentor type.

The real twist comes when you consider the minor league bats that the A’s have in AA or higher that aren’t yet on the 40 man roster. Sean Doolittle, Adrian Cardenas, Josh Donaldson, Corey Brown, Chris Carter and Brett Wallace highlight the next wave of Oakland offense… which could be much more refreshing than the current ripple in the still waters we’ve experienced as of late. Yet again we haven’t looked outside the current organization to determine if maybe there’s another bat to be had.

So bring back Kennedy, add the newbies and you’re looking at 38-39 players on the 40 man roster before the Rule 5 draft. Does anyone see any glaring omissions?

Until the next time...

Ooh, that Snell. Can't you Smell that Snell?

67MARQUEZ — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:54:03 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

3 months ago: Seattle Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. hits a two-run home run against the Oakland Athletics in the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 24, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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And then there are those games that you wish you could send back and have them cook a little longer...

The A's just couldn't get anything going tonight against Ian Snell, going hitless until Daric Barton's single with two outs in the fifth. Meanwhile, Vin Mazzaro flirted incessantly with danger during his five frames on the hill. The Mariners played along for awhile, stranding eight through the first four innings, a José López homerun leading off the third their only score, and for a brief moment Mazzaro (5IP, 5H, 3R, 4BB, 4K) was duped into thinking he might have a chance.

But the young right-hander got a little too cute for his own good, hitting López with a pitch to start the fifth, before Ken Griffey Jr. put an end to the charade with a no-doubt-about-it blast into the right-field bleachers, the 625th of a career that will ultimately land him in Cooperstown.

Griffey may have benefited from home plate umpire Marty Foster's decision to warn both benches following the López at-bat, taking the inside part of the plate from Mazzaro. So the rook grooved one, and the 21-year veteran deposited it into the cheap seats.

The A's got one back in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Kurt Suzuki, but that was all for the A's, who left their bats back in the Bay Area.

There wasn't even the usual teA'se tonight, unless you count Jack Cust's ground-rule double to lead off the ninth, which brought up the tying run. But Suzuki flied out to right, Ryan Sweeney did the same to left, and Landon Powell struck out to end it, earning Snell (6IP, 4H, 1R, 2BB, 2K) the win, and David Aardsma his 29th save of the season.

Talent in, talent out

DanUpBaby — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:00:13 -0000

More photos » by Matt Sayles - AP

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Charlie Haeger simply does not know how to hold a baseball. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

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Shelby Miller! I have it on good faith that he throws 120 miles per hour... to contact. That he has a 2:1 groundballs-batters faced ratio. That he is, depending on how ready you were to jump on the Anthony Reyes, Future Ace bandwagon following his crazy 8 K:BB stint in AA, the best-regarded pitching prospect in the system since Rick Ankiel, despite having yet to play a baseball game for money.

Last time the Cardinals became associated with trading prospects for veterans it wasn't—in most cases—the prospects themselves that killed them; it was that the those great 2000-2005 squads kicked off the dynasy by drafting future superstars like Shaun Boyd, Chance Caple, Justin Pope, and nobody in back-to-back-to-back-to-back first rounds. (That 2002 draft, in which the Cardinals gave up draft picks for signing Izzy and Tino Martinez, is particularly devastating; their first two picks retired in the Midwest League, momentary prospects like Travis Hanson lost their way before their first cup of coffee, and only Kyle McClellan and Brad Thompson have spent any time in the majors.)

So while trading the top prospect for retail-priced help is a bad habit to get into, it was exacerbated in the Jimmy Journell era by poor drafting. But this year the Cardinals have shown a desire to bring talent in and they ship it out.

TALENT OUT

1. Colby Rasmus. It's always good news when the biggest blow to your prospect list establishes himself, immediately, as a useful Major League baseball player. (On your team, that is.) Certainly his long-term profile—maybe even his short term profile—is much different from the fringe-average centerfield bat he's shown to this point, but his defense has been all-world enough, in its almost blandly graceful way, to make him a championship-quality player in year one.

But the loss of Rasmus left the Faberge Squad, as 2009 began, without the guy who'd single-handedly filled the Future Star quadrant since 2005. Even #2 on this list wasn't quite there—he was a guy, in Baseball America parlance, who would Hit No Matter What. With Rasmus, there was rarely any need for qualification.

2. Brett Wallace. Are you like me? Are you still following Brett Wallace's nightly exploits as though they were still over-the-fold Future Redbirds material? (It helps that, for the last few days, they have been—his .467 stint against Memphis has to have allayed some Athletics concerns about his lack of high-minors power.)

Just about to turn 23 and already in AAA, Wallace wasn't a Rasmus-style perennial on prospect lists, but his was the rare high-OBP fat-guy bat that received universal scout plaudits; it was so impressive a tool that his serious problems weren't enough to mar his premium-prospect tag. Losing Rasmus at the same time is part of what made the Holliday deal so tough to stomach; in his large-hipped vacuum the Cardinals were left with a toolsy outfielder with uncertain power projection and an international signing who's four months younger than Miley Cyrus.

The Cardinals traded a few Wallace types in their JockettyBall era. Daric Barton, the first Official Prospect Crush of Get Up, Baby! after his age-18 Ted Williams impression in the Midwest League, was further from the minors than Wallace, and not so loved by scouts, but he had just hit .313/.445/.513 with 69 walks against 44 strikeouts in a league full of college pitchers and known to suppress offense. He was also playing catcher.

Barton, selected the year after that disastrous 2002 draft, is kind of a Brett Wallace cautionary tale. While he was lighting up my pre-FR life, the Cardinals were racking up their equally disastrous 2004 draft, focused intentionally on affordability and implicitly on players with less upside than Daric Barton, or Brian Barden. Barton was the impact player, like Wallace, but he was also in a system that proved even thinner than this one.

3. Clay Mortensen. In my day, why, we called this guy Chris Narveson, and we were happy to have him, you know? None of this interchangeable back-of-the-rotation starter talk around our hot stove, and you know why? Because talking uses up the oxygen we'd saved up for that little fire.

4. Every right-handed reliever the Cardinals had. The organizational guys—Luke Gregerson, Mark Worrell, Luis Perdomo—were acceptable losses. If they're major prospects your system has greater and more pressing needs; although they'd certainly be useful now, it wasn't a matter of Mortgaging Our Future so much as reorganizing the team's value (a little more than was, in hindsight, advisable) in the present.

Jess Todd (and recent Talent Out graduate Chris Perez) are better bets in the future, and a little more difficult to let go; the Cardinals gave up real value in the future for the chance to replace Joe Thurston in the present. Jason Motte also made his last leap off prospect lists in 2009, and it's not been nearly as pleasant as Rasmus's. In all the Cardinals lost the makings of a great, cheap bullpen this year—some of it was traded, some of it just evaporated. That's not the most glamorous part of a prospect list, but it's tough to lose it.

5. Tyler Herron. What was the deal with that? He's in the Pirates system now, in case you hadn't heard, doing basically the same thing he was doing in Springfield, although apparently less uncoachably. Herron was part of the first salvo of attempted pitching depth, which didn't quite go as anticipated—from that run of supplemental picks and early rounders immediately following Rasmus and Tyler Greene, Mark McCormick has disappeared off the face of the earth; Herron is in Altoona; high schooler Josh Wilson has retired in each of the last two seasons; and closer-turned-hittable-starter-turned-hittable-closer Nick Webber is out of the system.

They did better later on, thankfully, or else the Herron move would make even less sense than it does as is.

TALENT IN

1. Shelby Miller and Wagner Mateo! We haven't seen stat one on these guys yet, and I don't know anything I wouldn't be regurgitating third-hand, so I've lumped them together—but this is exactly what the Cardinals didn't have to fall back on after trading Barton or Adam Kennedy or H...H... I had another name, I thought, but Google isn't any help at all.

When the Cardinals traded for Mark Mulder they were basically without a farm system, top and bottom, and there was no real reason to believe that worried them. There was no lasting commitment to young players; they just happened to have a few of them, and then they didn't. This year the rights to two players, one of whom won't be a Major League factor for at least five years, were already in hand by the time the Cardinals' top prospect was gone. Beneath them there's depth, the pretty good-but (no fastball / fringe glove / no pop / Tommy John) guys that would have topped a prospect list in the three terrifying months between the start of the 2005 season and Colby Rasmus.

It's a great time to be a Cardinals fan, but even if your first stop after a hard day's work is the GCL box scores (Joe Mather and Mike Parisi played tonight!) the minor leagues are no longer bereft of stories. With the second round pick the Cardinals could have taken another college pitcher; instead they selected ex-superprospect Robert Stock, who could have just ended up another college pitcher anyway but is now putting up a .951 OPS as a defensively adept catcher.

It's not just the players who've flooded the system; it's an increased confidence that the people in charge of the system both know what they're doing and are interested in doing it. They might trade some prospects, but that's not the only reason they'd like to have some.

AL West Trade Deadline Bloggers Roundtable

Rev Halofan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:45:31 -0000

Here is the first part of a great interview with SBN's four AL West bloggers by Sky Kalkman of Beyond The Boxscore, SBN's stattiest blog around... Part 1: Trade Deadline

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Which teams, under which circumstances, will be buyers over the next three weeks? How about sellers? If there are any undecideds, what will be the tipping point?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): Angels are buyers. No tipping point, the bet is on the table. What do you got?

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): The M's look like tentative buyers, although a lot could change with these next two games against Texas. Also with all those other games that happen between now and whenever this round table gets published. It's weird trying to predict the future. It's actually kind of a unique position in that the M's could buy and sell. We've already seen them add guys like Langerhans and Hannahan while ditching Yuniesky Betancourt, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could subtract from the current Major League roster to plug a different hole.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): There are all sort of mixed messages coming out of Texas, and I think the Rangers could be buyers or sellers, depending on the circumstances. Tom Hicks' money problems have been well chronicled, and supposedly, the Rangers can't add significant salary without dumping some salary. I think they would have liked to have moved Hank Blalock, which would have freed up some money to spend, but with Davis getting sent to the minors, they now need Blalock in the everyday lineup. They could move Vicente Padilla, who makes $11 million this year and whose contract is up at the end of the season, in order to add some salary, but that would open a hole in the rotation. The word is that Nolan Ryan is wanting to be more aggressive in making a move to add a veteran -- even if it means giving up more in the way of prospects in order to get a team to pay more of the acquired player's salary -- while Daniels is wanting to be more patient and hold off moving key prospects for now.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): Billy Beane has managed to be both at this time of the year. Let's just say any move he makes would not shock me. Well, almost any move.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): What holes will teams be looking to fill? What are the biggest holes they *SHOULD* be looking to fill but don't seem to be concerned about? Which holes from the first half can be plugged internally, perhaps by improvement the same player?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): If the Angels give Wood playing time and Vlad and Torii come back in August they need pitching. Relief Pitching and Starting Pitching and they do not have that internally. They think they have relief, though and I see them going after an overpaid third starter.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): The team is looking for a shortstop, because Ronny :(edeno hasn't cut it. They should probably also think about exploring the reliever market, because the bullpen hasn't been very good at all, ERA be damned. I'd like to think that they could improve the bullpen internally, but I'm not sure. Finally having a lefty out there should help. Adrian Beltre should hit better than he did early in the year if he ever comes back, and his return would be a big boon should this team stay in the race for that long.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): The Rangers need a righthanded hitting first baseman, but don't seem inclined to go that direction. If they make a move, it was long suggested that they'd look for bullpen help, because they are in dire need of a righty power arm to pair with C.J. Wilson late in the game. But with Neftali Feliz apparently primed to come up and pitch out of the bullpen, and El Duque being considered as a relief option, it appears that the Rangers are focusing more on a starting pitcher.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): There was a gaping hole on the left side of the infield, but Mark Ellis' return has allowed Adam Kennedy to man the hot corner, and Orlando Cabrera is starting to warm up a bit. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see Daric Barton get a sustained opportunity at first.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Who are the most popular trade targets for those holes? Any targets flying under the radar? Any targets your team is especially intrigued in? Any popular names they're backing away from? Any rumors you'd like to start?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): to paraphrase Axl Rose, The Angels got the money honey, do you have their disease? I'd say they get the most bang for buck if they trade Joe Saunders and Trevor Reckling (WTF with all these Trevors by the way? Was there a character on Miami Vice or a dude in Duran Duran named Trevor?) for Roy Halladay. They could even throw in Juan Rivera and take Vernon Wells and his salary. And they would be stupid enough to do it.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): If a target was flying under the radar, how would we know about it? The most frequently-mentioned names coming up right now are Jack Wilson, JJ Hardy, and Freddy Sanchez. Hardy won't come cheap and Sanchez would pose a roster problem if and when Beltre returns, but it seems to me that the M's could have Wilson for a fairly low price were they so inclined.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): Pat Burrell is a name that came up recently, as the A's sent a scout to watch a Jays-Rays game.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): The Rangers have been linked with Roy Halladay, although the Jays would probably want a couple of guys from the Holland/Feliz/Justin Smoak/Martin Perez quadumvirate, plus another couple of prospects, and I can't see Texas biting the bullet on that deal. And they supposedly can't add salary unless they move someone else (such as Hank Blalock). I think if they add someone, it will be a cheap (in terms of prospects and money) righty bat that can play some first base, such as Nomar Garciaparra.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Which prospects and young major leaguers are most likely to change hands? Any that teams have deemed off-limits?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): Angels won't trade Brandon Wood or Jered Weaver. Erick Aybar and Kendry Morales have the most value, Saunders goes for sure if it is a "marquee" trade.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): I don't know that anyone has been declared off-limits, although it wouldn't be hard to figure out which Mariners could be dealt and which ones couldn't. Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement look like total trade bait. Maybe Greg Halman, too, depending on the target.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): With Beane, that can never be declared, but it is unlikely that the A's part ways with any of their next Big Three.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): Every team is going to be asking about the big four -- Feliz, Holland, Smoak, and Perez. And the Rangers aren't going to part with one of those guys unless it is part of a deal to bring in a big-time difference maker under team control for a while. I wouldn't be shocked if the Rangers opted to dangle Nelson Cruz as part of a package for an impact pitcher, though, since the plan is to put Josh Hamilton in RF long-term to make room for Julio Borbon in center, and Cruz is a nice middle-of-the-order bat who is cheap and under team control for a while, giving him a fair amount of value.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Without any trade-deadline moves, what has to happen for your team to win the division? How much more likely is your team to make the playoffs by plugging its holes or adding an impact player?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): At perfect health we're the class of this division by a mile and in dire straights health-wise and no deal we have a 1 and a half game lead at the All Star Break. Translation: The three of you don't look any scarier in my rear view mirror.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): As much as I hate to admit it (and I really, really do), Rev is right. At the beginning of the season we talked about many things having to go right for the A's to win the West. And now? Short of the teams ahead of them going into the tank all at once, I'm not even sure this question was even meant for me. Adding an impact player won't even help at this stage. Unless we're talking Albert Pujols. And even then...

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): For the Rangers to win the division without any moves, they need Josh Hamilton to start hitting like Josh Hamilton again, Chris Davis to start hitting like Chris Davis again, and the pitching staff to stay healthy. I think if that happens, they'll stay in it all the way and could steal the division from the Angels.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): If the Mariners are to win the division, they'll need the offense to play to its projection level, the Angels to play to theirs, and Erik Bedard to remain healt-oh my god we're boned. Bringing in a shortstop would help, but given that our playoff chances (now as of this writing on July 17th!) are somewhere around 12%, not even Hanley Ramirez would make us favorites. We just need luck. Either the M's need to play over their heads, or the Angels have to play under theirs. Or both. Both would make it easy.

PART TWO COMING SOON !!

Hammel, Rockies Humble A's, 4-2

Flashfire — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:23:06 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Fortunately none of these people confused Jack Cust in his attempt to catch this particular fly ball.

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I could go on the kind of tirade The Manager should, but chances are The Manager will give the usual "I was happy we fought back late in the game" line, or a variation of it.

What The Manager should actually do point to the fact that if not for two more errors (the A's have now made six in their last three games) this game could still be going on instead of us talking about a lackluster 4-2 loss that once again featured a late tease.

Things got off to a bad start right away as the second hitter of the game, Ryan Spilborghs, reached on a throwing error by Jack Hannahan, who bounced one Daric Barton couldn't pick. He'd score on a double by Garrett Atkins, who came into the game batting .216. Then in the fifth, Dallas Braden forgot about the speed of Dexter Fowler on a bunt, pausing to glance toward second long enough that his throw to first may or may not have pulled Barton's foot off the bag. Either way, Fowler was called safe, an error was credited to Braden, and it came back to hurt them on a two-run single inside third base by Todd Helton and a single by Atkins, who had three hits to raise his average to .226.

Meanwhile, Jason Hammel had very little trouble with the Oakland offense. This is no real surprise but apart from two doubles by Matt Holliday and a walk to Jason Giambi, nobody else did a thing against him until a Kurt Suzuki homer in the seventh. After that walk to Giambi in the fourth, Suzuki lined out to left and Holliday, who'd been running on the pitch, was easily doubled off second. Hammel would pitch into the eighth before the Colorado bullpen made things a little, ahem, rocky, but Suzuki fouled out with the bases loaded after a walk to Giambi forced in a run. Although Huston Street took one off the right arm in the ninth, he pitched a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

Braden was neither very good nor very bad tonight but the mistakes were what hurt them the most and he couldn't limit the damage. It could've been worse in the sixth when Clint Barmes, the first hitter Brad Ziegler faced, lifted a pop fly to right field. Jack Cust and Adam Kennedy both converged on it before it fell next to Cust. It was another example of poor communication and confusion leading to a ball dropping that had no business not being an out, but Ziegler was able to get out of it and at least give the A's a chance to mount some kind of comeback without it really turning into a blowout. Craig Breslow, Santiago Casilla and Andrew Bailey worked a perfect inning apiece to close out the pitching line for the A's. I'd questioned using Bailey tonight but hadn't realized the last time he got into a game was on the 20th. In that case I understand getting him an inning.

In the end it's just another uninspiring loss by a team that shows very little to get excited about apart from a brief rally or two at some point in the game. They went down 1-2-3 five times and left a total of six runners on base, half of them in the eighth. They only had 4 ABs with runners in scoring position, coming up empty each time (the Rockies were 3-for-11 in theirs). Colorado got what they needed early and kept their lead, making it 18 wins in 21 games. It wasn't pretty at times but in the end the only thing that matters is the final score, not how you arrive at it. When sloppy play contributes to another loss, that IS going to stand out as a problem.

It's reunion time in Oakland

Poseidon's Fist — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:01:32 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Arguably the two most dangerous Athletic bats are former Rockies. But neither have been Oakland's best hitter to date.

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The storyline of this series goes without saying. It is MLB's only primary green team vs. the only team that wears purple. Oh wait - we don't even wear purple anymore. Right - that whole Matt Holliday/Carlos Gonzalez/Huston Street bit.

There's not a whole lot to say on that front. It will be the first time the trio play their former team - more of an event for Holliday and Street, who were both celebrated for years as premium players for their former clubs. Street has become a solid if not fantastic closer while Gonzalez furthers his reputation as a possible AAAA player.

As for Holliday, he is still working uphill from that terrible start. His wOBA is lower than every year in his career, including his rookie year, and his OPS+ only exceeds that same 2004 campaign. So it's not JUST being away from Coors. His OPS has not reached .900 and his average have not reached .300 once this season. He is currently on an 18-game, 64-AB homerless drought. He has actually had a worse offensive season than the Rockies' fifth outfielder if you compare Fangraphs offensive value.

Oakland got off to a miserably sluggish start like Holliday - and the Rockies. On June 1, the A's were actually one half game worse (19-30) than Colorado (20-30), but like the Rockies, June brought a bit of a surge. Bob Geren's club reeled off seven straight at the beginning of June to bring them within four games of .500, but they have lost 10 of their last 15 to drop back to earth.

The Rockies last played the Athletics June 18-20, 2006, when they outscored the A's 15-3 at Coors Field. However they haven't played in Oakland since being swept in 2001. In fact, the Rockies won their first ever game in the Coliseum in 1997 thanks to a dominant start by Roger Bailey, yet they have lost all seven games there since. The A's are only 3-8 at Coors Field though, so it evens out to a 9-10 Rockies record all-time vs. Oakland.

Colorado is now 8-4 in interleague play; Oakland is just 5-10 with a modest 17-17 overall home record.

The Rockies absolutely must win this series against an inferior team. After dropping a series in Anaheim in which they outscored the Angels, they can't afford to head to Dodger Stadium needing a sweep for a winning road trip.

Athletics Nation is Oakland's SBNation blog, actually the oldest among us all. In case you missed it in the offseason, here's a classic view on the Matt Holliday trade from AN from January.

Oakland Athletics (31-40, L2, 4th, 8.0 GB)

Friday-Sunday: 3-game series at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

The Bats: D-

Bob Geren has toyed with the lineup to a great degree trying to spark some offense. Suzuki could bat second, pushing Cust, Holliday and Giambi down one spot. OFRajai Davis (.240/.309/.340), C Landon Powell (.182/.258/.364) and IF's Daric Barton (1-for-14, 2B) and Nomar Garciaparra (.254/.274/.390) fill out the bench.

This is my best guess on the lineup, which is just outright terrible (the guess and the lineup):

LINEUP

Avg

HR

RBI

OBP

SLG

wOBA

Adam Kennedy - 2B
.298

6

24

.368

.474

.369

Jack Cust - RF
.227

13

37

.313

.421

.323

Matt Holliday - LF
.269

8

39

.367

.423

.352

Jason Giambi - DH
.205

10

37

.341

.384

.326

Kurt Suzuki - C
.278

4

27

.325

.400

.320

Orlando Cabrera - SS
.243

2

25

.289

.313

.264

Bobby Crosby - 1B
.190

3

17

.291

.306

.275

Ryan Sweeney - CF
.254

2

18

.315

.320

.289

Jack Hannahan - 3B
.191

1

8

.273

.304

.262

That lineup features your worst offensive 3B and 1B in MLB, plus the 2nd worst shortstop, only to 2007 NL MVP (*cough cough*) Jimmy Rollins. The Rockies can field a lineup with a better offensive player at all nine positions (even left field!) except second base - by wOBA anyway. Speaking of which, utilizing that, this lineup has two solid above average hitters (Kennedy and Holliday), three a bit below average (Giambi, Cust and Suzuki), one very below average (Sweeney) and three don't belong on the field, let alone an MLB starting lineup (Cabrera, Crosby, Hannahan).

Overall, the Athletics have the lowest batting average in the majors (about Torrealba level), the 6th least runs scored, 6th least HR, and are dead last in wOBA at .299. I know I know, sample size. But I can't resist pointing out their team wOBA is 8 points worse than Ubaldo Jimenez'.

Should we treat their lineup like nine Ubaldo's? Obviously not. They get a significant disadvantage playing at the Coliseum, but still, their roster OPS+ is just 82, worse than every Rockie except Quintanilla, Gonzalez and Atkins. Any way you slice it, this is a terrible offense. Those big offseason additions of Cabrera, Holliday, Giambi and Garciaparra have done very little.

The Arms: C+

The Rockies draw the top two Oakland's starters. Gone are the days of the big three, but Dallas Braden and Trevor Cahill are still solid young arms with upside. Brett Anderson's scheduled start tonight has been pushed to Monday due to biceps inflammation, so Braden and Cahill will each move up a day; both have an ERA+ of over 112. Vin Mazzaro moves into Sunday's spot - the 22 year old righty has been impressive in five starts this season. Rookie Andrew Bailey has stepped in to be a dominant closer in place of Brad Ziegler, who still gets an opportunity now and again.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Andrew Bailey	4-1	2.23	1.04	50	18

Overall, the club has an 97 ERA+, which is a tick below average, but some of the deadweight pulling that stat down are not on the roster or won't be starting in the series.

The team is 13th in ERA (13th for starters, 15th for relievers) and 11th in FIP (15th and 2nd), so despite lacking big names, the Athletics continue to put forth an above average staff. Other arms Bob Geren leans on in the pen include Michael Wuertz, Russ Springer, Santiago Casilla, and Craig Breslow.

The D: C-

The A's have a UZR/150 rating at 1.6, slightly better than average. They 50 errors (8th in MLB) and are 8th worst in fielding percentage. That washes out to a slightly below average defense.

The Ballpark: Pitching Park

The multi-year park factor is 93, giving a pitching advantage over the last few years equivalent to the offensive advantage at Coors the last few years. This year, it is at 97, mirroring Coors' migration to average, so it is still as much of a pitching park as Coors is a hitting park this year.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 8:05 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Hammel	4-3	4.41	1.50	46	17

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Dallas Braden	5-6	3.26	1.29	62	25

Saturday, June 27, 7:05 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	3-7	5.85	1.51	82	36

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Trevor Cahill	5-5	3.68	1.34	41	33

Sunday, June 24, 2:05 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Aaron Cook	7-3	4.00	1.33	46	30

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Vin Mazzaro	2-2	2.56	1.07	20	8

Dallas Braden and Trevor Cahill have each thrown 7 consecutive quality starts, though Oakland is only 7-7 in those games. Vin Mazzaro has four QS's in his five starts this season - in his only non-quality start, he allowed four runs to just miss the qualification. Andrew Bailey has been unscored upon in 10 of his last 11 outings. Ryan Sweeney is 6 for his last 17 and Orlando Cabrera has a .855 OPS in his last 6 games.

Matt Holliday is 12 for his last 58 (8 singles and 4 doubles) for a .208 average since June 7. He only has two more home runs than Adam Kennedy this season. Jack Cust is only 4 for his last 24, Bobby Crosby just 1-for-10 and Jason Giambi has scratched out just three hits in his last 15 trips.

Pitcher Josh Outman (best name for a pitcher ever) is on the 15-day DL with an elbow injury. Dan Giese (elbow) is on the 60-day DL, as are four very prominant names on the roster: 3B Eric Chavez (back), 2B Mark Ellis (calf), and pitchers Joey Devine (elbow) and Justin Duchsherer (elbow). The elbow epidemic in Oakland is killing them.

Poll

How will be rebound from consecutive losses in Anaheim?

We won't. This team is fragile and is affected by streaks too much in both directions. We'll struggle to hit in the Coliseum and get swept.

3 votes

The doubt is there, and we manage to win just one game, probably while outscoring Oakland for the series

11 votes

A solid road series win against a mediocre home team and terrible offense sounds reasonable

53 votes

Matt Holliday doesn't get the Monforts' green, but he does match his uni with envy after watching his former club sweep his struggling team.

20 votes

87 votes | Poll has closed

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Adam Kennedy - 2B	.298	6	24	.368	.474	.369
Jack Cust - RF	.227	13	37	.313	.421	.323
Matt Holliday - LF	.269	8	39	.367	.423	.352
Jason Giambi - DH	.205	10	37	.341	.384	.326
Kurt Suzuki - C	.278	4	27	.325	.400	.320
Orlando Cabrera - SS	.243	2	25	.289	.313	.264
Bobby Crosby - 1B	.190	3	17	.291	.306	.275
Ryan Sweeney - CF	.254	2	18	.315	.320	.289
Jack Hannahan - 3B	.191	1	8	.273	.304	.262